Monday, October 22, 2007

The Short-Lived Grantish Inquisition

In the "little known moments in history" department, apparently General Grant at one point during the Civil War ordered all Jews out of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Fortunately, President Lincoln pulled rank on Grant and rescinded the order. It doesn't appear that anyone tried to enforce Grant's order.

Oddly enough, the event quickly vanished down the memory hole - the only real description of the event was from a history of Lincoln written by a Jewish writer some 40 years later.

And the flabbergasting tidbit from the end of the post...
In 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant was an honored guest at the dedication of Adas Israel, which is now the largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, DC.

How soon we forget.

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